Rescue Me
by invisame
Summary: A super long one shot. An engineer had some problems with her boyfriend and gets some help from the crew of the Enterprise. Mentions of abuse. Do not read if this bothers you.


"Samantha!"

She groaned as the familiar voice called her name. At present, she was jammed into an extremely tight and uncomfortable position trying to fix some wiring that had randomly decided to quit working. Yes, she should have been off shift an hour ago but that didn't mean her boyfriend had to come looking for her. She wasn't twelve years old.

He yelled her name again and she rolled my eyes but otherwise ignored him. She had a job to do.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Klein, Lieutenant Reynolds is working at the moment. Is there something I can help ye with?" She'd never been happier to hear her boss Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott's thick Scottish accent.

"She was supposed to be off an hour ago, Scotty," Daniel snapped.

"That's Chief Engineer Scott to you, lad." She could almost picture the anger on Scotty's face. "The lass will be along when she's finished. Now kindly leave my engine room before I have ye escorted out."

She continued to work on the wiring problem as she listened to her boss muttering to himself. "Stupid kid. He doesn't treat her right. What does she see in him anyway?"

Her lips twitched as she tried not to smile and she poked her head out of the hole. "I can hear you, you know."

Scotty's cheeks flushed red and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I'm sorry, lassie. I just worry about ye is all."

"It's fine, Scotty." She started to wiggle her way out of the tight space. He rushed forward and grasped her wrists in his hands to pull her out. "It should be fixed. Give it a shot."

He pressed a few buttons on a nearby control panel then turned back to her with a smile. "I knew if anyone could do it, it would be you, lassie."

She arched a brow. "Pretty sure you could have fixed it, too."

He scoffed. "I wasn't squeezing in there."

After narrowing her eyes at him and earning a chuckle in response, she held out her hand. "Come on, boss man. Even you have to eat, and I'm starving."

* * *

She lingered over her meal, enjoying Scotty's company. Afterwards, they even had a couple of drinks. Eventually, she made her excuses and headed for the quarters she shared with Daniel. If she were honest, this was the only reason she hadn't broken up with him yet. They were dating before the mission and had been given joint quarters. There were no empty rooms for her to move to if she left him. Served her right for letting him talk her into it in the first place. Dating someone was entirely different than living with them, as she'd quickly discovered.

The door to their quarters opened and she stepped inside. "Daniel?" she called but got no response. She breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed a hand across her forehead. He worked in security so he'd probably been called in for something. She really needed to talk to Captain Kirk about different quarters. Maybe she could bunk with one of the other engineers. Sleeping on the couch never bothered her.

"I see you found your way home finally."

The voice made her jump and she turned to see Daniel leaning against the doorway of the bedroom. She pressed her hand against her chest and willed her heartbeat to slow down. "You scared me. Why didn't you answer when I called?"

He shrugged one shoulder and moved toward her. "Why didn't you come home when your shift ended?"

She rolled her eyes and tried to step past him but he grabbed her upper arm. When she tried to remove herself from his grip, it tightened. "That hurts, Daniel. Let go."

His grip tightened further and it was obvious she'd be bruised in the morning. He pulled her against him and sneered down at her. "Imagine my surprise when I went back to engineering an hour ago and you were nowhere to be found."

"I went to eat. I was hungry." She clenched her teeth and the muscle in her jaw twitched.

Without warning, Daniel backhanded her with his free hand. Her head snapped to the side and she tasted blood as her lip split. "Liar!" Fear slammed through me. He might be an asshole, but he'd never hit her before.

"What are you doing? What's wrong with you?"

His angry face was inches from hers as he stared her down with pure hatred in his eyes. Had this been coming all along but she had been so busy ignoring him, she just didn't see it? "You are only on this ship because of me, but you don't seem to remember that."

He shook her before punching her and throwing her to the floor. His foot drove into her side as he stormed past her to the door. "I want you out, Sam. I don't care where you go as long as it isn't here."

She laid on the floor for a long time as tears streamed down her face and she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Her cheek throbbed where he punched her and her sore ribs made it hard to breathe. Briefly she thought about calling security but he worked with them, was friends with most of them. What if they didn't believe her?

Finally, she pushed herself to her feet. After stumbling into the kitchen, she pulled the small med kit from under the sink. Breaking the seal on the cold pack, she pressed it against her cheek. Stepping out of the room, she kept her head down as she headed down the hallway to the lift. She just kept moving, trying not to think too much about what had just happened. Hot tears continued to run down her cheeks and drip onto the floor but she ignored them and pushed herself forward.

After arriving on the floor that housed the med bay, she headed down the hall past it. A trip in there and everyone on the ship would know what had happened by the end of the next day. No, her destination was her favorite grumpy doctor's private quarters. Thank God she was friends with Scotty and by default had become friends with Jim, Bones and Spock.

It was late so she wasn't surprised when there was no response to her initial knock. She tried again hoping he wasn't somewhere else, though it was doubtful this time of night. Finally, she heard muttering on the other side of the door.

"This better be important, damn it." His eyes were half-closed and his hair stuck up telling her he was sleeping before she interrupted. He frowned when he saw her. "Sam?" His eyes widened as he absorbed the fact that she was injured. He grasped her arm to pull me into his room and she grimaced as he found the spot Daniel had hold of earlier.

"Sorry. Sorry," he muttered and instead put a hand on her shoulder to steer her inside and over to the sofa. He pointed at her. "Stay there."

She rolled her eyes. Where did he think she was going to go? She tossed the cold pack on the table in front of her and leaned back to relieve the pressure on her ribs. Her eyelids drifted shut of their own accord. Yes, she hurt, but she was also exhausted, mentally and physically.

She jumped when Bones lightly ran his fingers over the side of her face. "Sorry," he grumbled again.

She cracked open her eyes to glare at him. He'd managed to flatten down his hair at some point. He scowled as he looked over her injuries. "Take off your top."

"Bones," she said in a faux shocked voice, "I had no idea you thought of me that way."

His face burned red even as he rolled his eyes. "Damn it, Sammy. I'm a doctor not some pervert."

She chuckled then winced at the pain that lanced her ribs. "Easy, Bones. It was a joke." With his help she managed to peel the uniform top off, leaving her in the sports bra she wore underneath. He froze and she tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong, Doc?"

He swallowed and pursed his lips as he pointed at her arm. "Those bruises are in the shape of fingers."

Her brows arched. "What did you think happened to me?"

"Well, not that." He pulled out a scanner and ran it over her arm, side and face. "No broken bones. Your ribs are bruised, though. Just stay put and let me patch you up."

Instead of getting back in his med kit, he walked over to the comm unit on the wall. "McCoy to Kirk. Meet me in my quarters asap."

She groaned. "Really?" He walked back over still wearing that familiar scowl.

"You think I'm not going to tell the captain when one of his crew shows up in my quarters after getting in a fight with someone?"

A brief thought of correcting him flashed through her mind, but she'd rather only explain once. So instead she said, "I think you'd most likely report it to him in the morning instead of waking him in the middle of the night."

He nodded once in agreement as he finished sealing the skin on her lip together. "Fair enough. You think I'm not going to tell Jim when one of his friends shows up at my quarters bleeding and bruised?"

There was knock at his door. "Open up, Bones." Jim's voice was impatient and worried.

"Just a minute," Bones called. He jogged into his room and came back with a t-shirt. He helped her slide it on as Jim knocked on the door again before opening it with his override. She was fully covered by the time he stepped into the room.

"What's going on, Bones?" His eyes fell on her and widened. "Sam? What the hell happened to you?"

She sighed. "I think I need a drink for this."

Bones disappeared for a minute then came back with a bottle and three glasses. He poured a drink for all of them then they sat facing her.

Taking a deep breath, she dropped her head and twisted the glass around in her hands. After a moment, she looked back up at two of her closest friends. "Daniel."

It was all she said but the looks on their faces told her it was enough.

"Why?" Jim asked after a long moment of silence.

She shrugged, still not really understanding it herself.

"I'll kill him," Bones spat out.

Jim just looked at him before pulling out his communicator. "Kirk to security."

"Security here, Captain."

"Find Lieutenant Klein and put him in the brig."

"May I ask why, Captain?"

Jim frowned. "Was my order in some way unclear?"

"N-no, sir."

Suddenly feeling extremely tired, she wiped a hand down her face and yawned. She glanced at Bones. "Mind if I crash on your couch?"

His scowl deepened. "You are not sleeping on the couch with those ribs. Go get in the bed."

"Why, Doctor, I thought you were a gentleman," she said in a bad southern accent.

He rolled his eyes. "Get going, princess."

She finished her drink and put the glass on the table. Jim hopped up to help her get to her feet. She gave them both a little wave as she shuffled to the bedroom.

"What the hell is wrong with her ribs?" she heard Jim hiss as she slid under the covers.

"I think the better question would be which one of us is going to tell Scotty," Bones responded, making her frown.

"Shit," Jim muttered. And that was the last thing she heard before drifting into oblivion.

* * *

"Has anyone seen, Lieutenant Reynolds?" Scotty asked the next morning in engineering. Everyone shook their head or answered in the negative. Sammy was late to her shift and she was never late. Not without informing him of the reason. He'd already attempted to reach her twice by communicator and called the med bay. This wasn't like her at all. He linked his hands together on top of his head and blew out his breath.

"Lieutenant Commander Scott." Scotty turned at the sound of Spock's inflectionless voice.

"Spock," he said with a sigh, "what can I do for you?"

"I have been directed to inform you of Lieutenant Reynolds's location."

"Well, where is she, man?" Scotty all but shouted when Spock did not continue.

Spock arched one eyebrow and linked his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant Reynolds spent the evening in Dr. McCoy's quarters and is currently still located there. She will not be reporting for duty until further notice."

Pain jolted through Scotty followed closely by anger. His face heated and his muscles grew tight. How dare he? Some friend that grumpy bastard turned out to be. His hands fisted at his sides. By the time Scotty decided to hunt down McCoy, Spock was long gone.

As Samantha was his second in command, Scotty put the next highest ranking officer in charge and headed to the med bay. Once he arrived, he was informed that McCoy had called in and would not be working that day. "I bet he did," he growled under his breath, earning a worried look from the nurse that had delivered the news.

He briefly debated returning to engineering, but instead turned the other way to go to McCoy's quarters. He pounded on the door once he arrived. "Open the door, ye bloody bastard!"

The door opened to reveal McCoy, his brows drawn together as he frowned at Scotty. "Scotty? What the hell?"

Scotty put two fingers on McCoy's chest and pushed him into the room. "Spock told me what ye did. Some friend you are," he hissed as his eyes darted around the room looking for Sam.

"Hold up, Scotty." McCoy put his hands up in a placating gesture. "What exactly did Spock say?"

"He told me Sam spent the night here and that she was still with ye."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Pointy-eared bastard. Just calm down, Scotty. It's not what it looks like. Sammy, darlin', could you come out here for a minute?"

After a moment, she emerged from the bedroom, and Scotty's heart broke at the sight before him.

* * *

Her eyes widened as she saw Scotty with Bones. Her eyes darted between both friends before settling on the grumpy doctor. "I told you I didn't want him to see me like this." Tears welled in her eyes and she dropped her head forward.

After a moment, shoes appeared in her line of vision. "Sammy?" Scotty's voice was soft and low as if he was trying not to startle her. When she didn't respond, he grasped her hands in his own. "Look at me, Lass."

Finally, she looked up and a hot tear rolled down her cheek. His eyes were sad as he studied her, taking in her visible injuries.

"What happened?"

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to find courage from it. "Daniel."

As it had been the night before, the one word was enough. The sadness in his eyes was quickly replaced by anger. His face flushed and his jaw grew tight. He started to pull away from her to go to the door and she grasped his hands more tightly. "Please, Scotty. It's fine. Jim has him locked in the brig and is going to put him off at the next star port."

A quick glance around the room told her that Bones had left the two of them alone. She dragged the engineer toward the couch and took a seat. He settled himself beside her. There was silence for a long time before he broke it. "Why didn't you want me to know? I thought we were friends."

Her brows shot up into her hairline. "That wasn't about you, Scotty. It's just so humiliating. I'm so embarrassed that I let this happen." She dropped her head again and tangled her fingers together in her lap.

"Hey. Hey," Scotty protested and laid a rough hand along her jaw, using it to lift her head to look at him. "You've got nothing to be embarrassed about, lass. You're one of the strongest, most caring people I know."

She met his gaze for a long moment, laying her own hand on top of his. She didn't miss the way his eyes darted down to her lips and back up. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. The truth was, she'd been at least a little bit in love with her boss almost from the moment she met him. She leaned forward and he mirrored the movement. The corner of her mouth curled into a smile.

"Hey, Scotty?"

"Aye, Lassie?"

"Kiss me already, would you?"

"Aye." His lips met hers, softly at first, and her eyes drifted shut. She moved her hand to the side of his face and deepened the kiss. After a long moment, he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. "About bloody time."


End file.
